NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Williams Loses His Butterflies, Lifts Giants, 8-1

After 2 1/2 weeks on the disabled list, Matt Williams looked like he’d never been away. How he felt was another matter.

“It felt like the first day of school,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been as nervous as I was today. I don’t know why. I woke up at 5:30 this morning.”

Nervous or not, Williams singled in his first at-bat and hit a two-run homer in his second, leading the San Francisco Giants to an 8-1 victory over the New York Mets on Thursday at San Francisco.

Returning to the lineup after missing 13 games because of an abdominal strain, Williams went two for two and increased his run batted in total to 66, second in the National League behind teammate Barry Bonds. Williams, who reported no physical problems, also was hit by a pitch and intentionally walked before being pulled for a pinch-runner in the seventh.

With the score tied, 1-1, Williams started a four-run fourth with his 22nd homer after Bonds led off the inning with a single. Mark Carreon followed with a double, went to third on Royce Clayton’s groundout and scored on Kirt Manwaring’s single.

Manwaring scored on a double by Darren Lewis to give San Francisco a 5-1 lead against starter Eric Hillman (0-4). Lewis also made two fine defensive plays in center field and tied the major league record for consecutive errorless games in the outfield. Lewis hasn’t made an error in 266 games, tying the mark set by Don Demeter from 1962-65.

Chicago 1, Colorado 0--Mike Morgan pitched a five-hitter for his first complete game of the season as the Cubs won at Chicago.

Morgan (7-9) walked none and struck out five to help the Cubs end a three-game losing streak.

The right-hander, who had six complete games in 1992, entered the night 0-2 with a 10.65 earned-run average in two other starts against the Rockies this season. His last shutout was Sept. 17 against Philadelphia.

Steve Buechele provided the lone run with a run-scoring double in the fourth against Willie Blair (3-7).

Cincinnati 7, Florida 4--Starter Tim Belcher and Joe Oliver each drove in two runs and the Reds took advantage of three wild pitches to beat the Marlins at Cincinnati. Florida has lost nine of its last 10 games and seven in a row on the road.

Belcher (8-5) gave up five hits in 5 2/3 innings, including two homers. The right-hander, who is being heavily scouted by several teams, is 7-1 in his last 11 starts. Jeff Reardon pitched two scoreless innings for his eighth save.

Atlanta 4, Pittsburgh 0--Tom Glavine pitched seven strong innings for his 11th victory and Otis Nixon scored two runs on sacrifice flies as the Braves won at Atlanta.

Glavine (11-4) gave up five hits, walked five and struck out three. He is 12-5 lifetime against Pittsburgh, 9-0 at Atlanta. Greg McMichael and Mike Stanton finished the combined six-hitter.

The Braves scored in the first inning off starter Randy Tomlin (2-6) without a hit. Nixon opened the inning with a walk, stole second and took third on a wild pitch before scoring on Terry Pendleton’s sacrifice fly.

San Diego 5, Philadelphia 2--Tony Gwynn hit a two-out, two-run infield single to break a seventh-inning tie as the Padres won at San Diego.

First-place Philadelphia has lost five of its last seven games.

Philadelphia limped into the All-Star break, playing a doubleheader to 4:40 in the morning against San Diego and a 20-inning game against the Dodgers.

The victory ended a four-game losing streak by the Padres, who began the home stand with reports regarding a rumored trade of first baseman Fred McGriff. The defending National League home run champion is said to be heading to Atlanta as part of San Diego’s move to trim its payroll.

St. Louis 4, Houston 2--Mark Whiten hit a 463-foot three-run homer and Rene Arocha won for only the second time in seven starts for the Cardinals at St. Louis.

The Cardinals cut the lead of National League East-leading Philadelphia to four games. It is the closest they’ve been to first place since trailing by 3 1/2 on May 1.

Astro right fielder Eric Anthony never moved on Whiten’s 12th homer, a drive on a 2-0 pitch from Doug Drabek (7-10). Todd Zeile started the rally with a two-out single and Ray Lankford got an infield hit as the ball struck diving third baseman Ken Caminiti in the right cheekbone. Caminiti left the game and was taken to Jewish Hospital for precautionary X-rays.